We're Going on a Bear Hunt... or Rabbit Hunt

Hey,

Well, here's a shocker.  My artsy night did not happen.

For good reason though.

In spite of my best efforts to stay home and go through with the evening I had planned for myself, Jered talked me into going for a walkabout with him by the lake.  He wanted to give his new slingshot a spin.  And while I did my fair share of whining... the entire time... it was a fun way to spend the evening.  (Shh- don't tell Jered.)

I assumed we were going to walk the trail and enjoy the scenery.  But you remember what the teachers taught us about what assuming does...  It makes an ... of "u" and "me."  Obviously, I was wrong.  So incredibly wrong.  What was I thinking?  I was with Jered Flinkman after all.

What started as Jered taking my hand and leading me through the woods (this was no easy trek), turned into a demented game of Red Light, Green Light.  Jered gained more and more ground, I would run to catch up, and apparently my athletic agility wasn't as stealthy as he would have liked.  "How about every time I stop walking, you stop walking too?"  (I think I'm off the hook for joining him on any future hunting days.)

 

I think you can probably imagine how this walk went.  Jered was one hundred percent in the hunting zone.  Seriously- he's like a dog that sees a squirrel.  That sounds bad, but I mean it in the most endearing way.

 

Meanwhile, I played around with the camera and looked for sights I wanted to remember, like the vibrant green moss that covered the downed tree, or my husband squatting in wait for a rabbit to appear.

 

At one point, I saw a big, lonely patch of snow that stubbornly survived in the shadows.  I almost took a picture to document the fading of winter, but then I literally thought, "I'm not taking a picture of that- Die snow, die!"  You know, because I'm mature like that.

Remember that scene from Princess and the Frog when Louis, the alligator, jumps into the bushes and comes out screaming that the "bricker bushes" got him? And he's covered in briers?  Mhmm.  Yep, I felt like Louis.

 

Finding brightly colored buds on the ground, seeing them covering the tree tops from which they fell, and spying fresh green signs of life peeking through the carpet of dead leaves was more energizing for me than seeing the one and only rabbit that crossed our path.

 

And then there were the more glamorous sights of the evening...

It truly was a beautiful evening, whining aside.  And even though I would have liked a bit more interaction with the mister, I enjoyed seeing him in his element.  He is the epitome of the outdoorsy type.

I honestly don't think I could have asked for a better evening, though my sentiment may have been lost on the mister.  I can't wait to enjoy more beautiful evenings and Saturday mornings like this together.  

Have a fantastic weekend!

Aim

A Peek at our Week

Hi.

Can you believe this work week is almost over already?  Where has the time gone?  I thought I'd share a few of those in between moments of this whirlwind week today.  (Don't confuse "whirlwind" with "busy" because "busy" it has not been.)

So I keep reading that today is the first day of Spring. I was unaware. However, now that I realize what a special day it is, I am quite thankful and hopeful.  We're almost there!  My skin tingles with the promise of Vitamin D!

I broke my every-other-week rule (that I just told you about) for our soup.  I couldn't wait a week this time, but I heard no complaining from the mister.  While I do not relish the onion-chopping part, I do love how colorful and bright it is before I stick it in the crock pot.

Because I want you to be well-read and entertained, I enjoy sharing my reading list with you.  I found another inspiring one today.  This beautiful, tatted up mom of two, owner of six pets- including a miniature pig, wife, and follower of Christ has a fantastic blog called Saturated Canary.  Find it HERE.

In one morning, I've read all the way back to her posts from September, and I can't wait to read more.  She lists books that she is reading to challenge and strengthen her faith, discusses homeschooling her kids, shares the deepest struggles of her heart, talks about nutrition and how to instill a true perception of beauty in her daughter, and focuses on the fun parts of life too.  She covers both being content and enjoying the little moments in life, and stretching to fulfill the purpose that God has for her.

Last night, I was pleasantly surprised by an overly willing Jered when it came to me wanting to go purchase Frozen.  We left right after dinner and popped it in the DVD player as soon as we returned.  I even heard laughs from his side of the couch.  Olaf... he can win over anyone.

The Walmart run could be seen as a flop if you consider the fact that I left without the item I actually needed.  But then again, can you call any store run that ended with ownership of Frozen a failure?

Prior to the escapade of the week, I enjoyed a nice spell of listening to the mister's musings.  I think they were only halfway made to me.  It seemed to be more him thinking out loud than anything, but that's fine with me.  I quietly listened to him ponder selfishness and if there is anything honestly done out of selflessness.  Although sometimes usually I don't appreciate it in the moment, I love that he is always teaching me to take a deeper look at myself.

He went on to compare all of our facial differences, which is basically everything.  He observed we are complete opposites in every detail.  He continued to say that we could have super well-balanced looking kids, or real goofy-looking ones.  He's sweet like that.  That was right before he expressed his hope that they get his athleticism and not mine... Ok, ok- I can't fault him for that.

We've enjoyed a ridiculous amount of wild berry pie a la mode this week.  That pretty well speaks for itself, I think.

I'm looking forward to some early packing for next week's adventure!  I will probably do most of it this weekend so that I don't have to worry about it during the work week.  Besides, I'm just incredibly excited and won't be able to wait.

Tonight, I plan to get artsy.  I've already expressed this plan to Jered, so that he can help hold me accountable to that goal.  We'll see.

Well, until next time.

Aim

Scatterbrained Day

Hi all.

I hope you had as exceptional a weekend as I did, but I won't hold my breath. Ha. Just kidding, I'm sure your weekend was alright... but mine was spectacular.

To get the weekend started, we had a delicious dinner and evening at Jake and Molly's on Friday, topped off with amaaaazing chocolate lava cakes.  Delectable desserts aside, weekends like this one always reinforce in my mind how blessed we are to live here.

Saturday morning was spent with coffee and donuts and friends. While Jake helped Jered get the truck running again, the rest of us were entertained by Miss Lily.  I cannot stress how much of a delight she is. Always learning, always looking thrilled with the new things she can do and the freedom she is finding with her mobility, always talking away and playing with the sounds she's learning to make.

And of course, spending time with my two besties was heavenly.  I'm so blessed by the roles they play in my life.  I would be a completely different person without them.  Aw, you know what- insert Wicked's For Good here!  If you don't know that song, you need to look it up right away.

I always loved that it was just me and Katie.  I never had any desire to have more siblings. We've always been this fantastic duo (in our opinions, anyway), and I don't know if our relationship would have been the same if there had been more Rudes in the house.  I'm positive we would have had quite a different childhood. 

I loved having a little sister that allowed me to have an excuse to play with my dolls and Barbies a little longer.  I like to think we had a pretty magical childhood, stretching our imaginations daily.  Plus, we were just cool kids, chubby cheeks notwithstanding.

It's probably my own childhood that causes me to envision little girls when I think of our future children.  (Obviously Jered is basically the complete opposite due to his childhood.)  I don't know that it's because the thought of having sons scares me like it used to (seriously- I used to be terrified by the thought, but my nanny experiences warmed me up to the idea), but more so that I'd like to extend my childhood a little longer.  

I think I picture myself with daughters because I want to live vicariously through them, or even have a chance to pull out the dolls and Barbies and play right along with them.  Did you have that kind of childhood?  The kind that you hope you can give your children and, hopefully, watch them enjoy it just as much as you did?

On top of that, I have this intense desire that they will be the best of friends because that's what Katie and I had.  Really, it's what Jered and his siblings had too.  All of their lives, his parents ingrained in their minds that their siblings are always going to be their siblings, so they should be their greatest friends too.  That's what I want for our kids someday.  Or maybe enjoy each other's company enough that they want to get high school jobs together.

Or do crazy things for each other, like chop off their hair because their sister was an idiot and tried to cut her own, forcing her to get it cut extremely short in order to fix it.

I think that every once in a while, we get so caught up in everything that is happening in our lives and get consumed by focusing on our future goals and plans, that we forget memories that we should hold on to.  While it can be a mistake to dwell on our past (like I talked about just a week ago), it's what got us to where we are, and some truly lovely pieces of our souls can be found and/or traced to those precious memories.

I feel as though you are getting a decent look into my mind today.  A little scattered, stumbling, and not too eloquent, but fairly nostalgic and emotional.

We're over halfway done with Monday.  Almost there. 

Aim

Glory Days

Hey there.

Just thought I'd share a few of the glorious moments I've enjoyed this week.

On my way home from driving Jered to work on Saturday, I put the windows down and heard the slosh of car tires splashing through puddles of melted snow.  However, that wasn't the best part.  The best part was the warmth of the sun I felt on my exposed collar bone.  That's right.  My collar bone was exposed outside for the first time in months.

As nerdy as this will sound, it felt wonderful to organize our spare room and make it look like an actual live-in room, and not just a catchall for storage.  I was thrilled to have it looking more like a bedroom by the time Kate came to visit.

I spent my Sunday afternoon watching movies and painting on our sun-streaked living room floor with a beautiful breeze billowing in through the curtains.

After church we spent a lovely couple of hours with family and friends at lunch, and we even splurged on some frozen yogurt afterwards.  (For the record, pistachio frozen yogurt is outstanding!)

On the most beautiful day we've had in a long time, Jered and I trotted outside for a nice, long walk.  He channeled his inner Rocky and took one of his most prized possessions- his racket ball- and bounced it the whole time.  Just being outside together, rather than inside was wonderful.  However, soaking up the beautiful weather and having good conversation at the same time was absolutely perfect.

Said husband has also been a God-send, helping me around the apartment this week.  I've come home a couple different times to find more and more things hung up on the walls for me.  He even spoiled me by allowing me to get a new T.V. stand.

This week was our chicken chili week.  (We've decided to have it every other week because we love it so much, but don't want to kill it by having it every week.  This way we still spend the whole off-week looking forward to it.  By far, our favorite meal.)  Click on Baked by Rachel, for the recipe.  (Seriously guys, I will be singing this soup's praises for all time.  Quick, easy, and delicious? Yes, please.)

The seester is here!  That means movies, walks, Goodwill hunts, bribing Jered into going to the mall with us, getting Kate to try sushi for the first time, and double hair appointments this weekend.  We rented Catching Fire the other night, and the tears I had been able to hold back in the theater flowed often and freely.  I think Katie and I could have watched it every night she spends here, but I don't think Jered would go for it.  I'm hoping that he will be up for Dunkin Donuts tomorrow morning.

The best sister in the world brought me lemon ice cream from Hannam's.  Enough said.

One of the attorneys brought in three boxes of enormous breakfast pastries.  It was a breakfast heaven for this blueberry muffin-loving girl on a day she didn't have time to make her usual oatmeal before work.

(I'm finding myself being extra excited about food-related occurrences in my life.  What does that say about me?)

I also received this wonderful little product I had ordered last week.  This lipstick- well, lip stain, is green, but according to the description, it reacts with the temperature and pH of your skin to create the perfect pink.  I don't know if that part is correct, but it does start out green, and I do like the pink it creates, although I'm still not used to wearing much color on my lips.  It also lasts all day, and the more you put on, the brighter it gets, so you have some control over how it turns out.

All in all, two migraines and thinking that Tuesday was actually Friday, aside, it has been a fantastic week, and I feel quite blessed.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Aim

Ugly

Hello.

It's Friday. We made it. Well, almost. I can't wait to get outside a bit this weekend! It will be gloooriouuus.

My other big plans this weekend revolve around our spare room.  Now that the rest of the apartment has had some TLC, the spare room's day has come! Especially since it will have a tenant next week. Hurray for spring breaks!

I've told you before about my ever growing, blog reading list.  Well, yesterday I found a stunner.  To be fair, I didn't find it on my own.  A fellow blogger and college classmate posted a link from the blog, and after reading less than two full posts, I was in love.  

Seriously you guys, you should probably start reading it right now.  Don't even finish this letter, just go, and then come back later:  Laura Lawson Visconti's Blog

It's like this girl knows my heart. Like we are kindred spirits, but she can put words to the thoughts and emotions I haven't figured out how to describe yet. Reading her posts make me feel understood. 

It's a pretty simple concept and yet one that's seemingly

 taken a long time to figure out: when I take the time

 to invest in what truly makes my heart sing, 

I will be a better wife, daughter, friend... I will be more me.

                                                                        - Laura Lawson Visconti

That is just one of many excerpts that resonated with me. She is also quite transparent about some trials in her life that I have no experience with.  I've found her posts encouraging, challenging, and thought-provoking.

Anyway, last Sunday our pastor brought up The Scarlet Letter, a bit of reading that I've loathed since the first of the three times I was supposed to read it. (Yes, supposed to.  I don't think I ever completed it. I liked Hawthorne's short stories, but I couldn't find it in my power to like The Scarlet Letter. Sorry professors!)  If you click HERE, Emma will tell you all you really need to know about it.

We are talking about embracing our identity in Christ. One of the points made was that we sometimes hang on to something in our past to identify ourselves, like a sin that we sew to our clothes for everyone to see.  We find our identity in something that we, for some reason or another, just can't let go.

I started wondering what my scarlet letter might be. When I thought of it, I didn't consider it so much a sin, as a personality weakness: insecurity.  The more I think about it though, the more I do think it is a sin, or perhaps a result of the sin of not embracing my identity in Christ. If I embrace who I am in Christ- a child of God, a new creation, an ambassador of Christ, a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit- I wouldn't be crippled by, or wallow in my insecurities, would I?

Insecurity is such an ugly trait. Just hideous. It's bigger than just untagging ourselves in unflattering photos or dreading swimming suit season. It does terrible things to our hearts and minds, making us feel worthless and underwhelming. Not only does it corrode our insides, but it makes us act ugly too. I can't tell you the number of times my insecurity has wreaked havoc on my relationship with Jered because of my ugly behavior.  

I wish I was writing this because I'd mastered a foolproof fix for insecurity, but I'm not. I'm merely spouting off another confession. And while I know that embracing my identity in Christ is the key to overcoming the majority, if not all of my insecurities, it's a little lot more difficult to bring that to fruition than simply admitting it. 

But maybe, just maybe, one of you will read this and know that you're not alone. I felt so alone in this for way too long, until I read a handful of other blog posts addressing the same issue, and then I began to feel understood.  It was nice to know that I'm not alone in my irrational fears.  I want to work on this, and I know it will be no small feat, but I am ready to take on the challenge and pray that God will do a mighty work in my life regarding this ugly sin.

Well, I hope you have a perfect weekend. Talk to you later.

Aim

Counting Down Days

Hey.

Guess what I just did.  Guess!

Ok, I'll tell you.  I booked our hotel room for our Minneapolis weekend.  I don't think I've ever booked a hotel room before.  If I remember correctly, other people have always taken care of it for me.  I'm such a grown up now.

I am so, so, so looking forward to our weekend away!  Not to mention watching my husband enjoy the best Christmas gift I've ever given him.  Sure, sometimes when I sit in our living room and look at the enormous, ugly, box TV we use, I find myself thinking it would have been nice if I had stuck with the original plan of getting him a new flat screen for Christmas.  But I know without a doubt, that our weekend in Minneapolis and seeing Jered watch his beloved Lakers will be so much better.  Just twenty-three days left!

With that said, I have a bone to pick with Kobe for getting injured.  Seriously?  Seriously?  Your biggest fan is finally attending a game, and you got hurt?!  Just kidding... Mostly.

While I'm at it, let's address the beef with Mother Nature too.  Please, please, pleeease be nicer to us that weekend.  I would like to utilize the walking distance between our hotel and the game in relative comfort and with dry feet.

Anyway, I'm ready to sport my poser shirt and cheer alongside the mister in his true fan shirt.

(I'm noticing that his hair always ends up at this fun stage around this time of year.)

We're hoping that Kobe will still be at the game.  And someone is wishing with all his might that he can score an autograph.

A few in betweens for you:

I am an emotional wreck.  Or I am just turning into a bigger crier than my mom.  I cried during Nebraska last night, spontaneously burst into tears right before bed, teared up when I watched the video of Matthew McConaughey winning his Oscar, and I'm trying not to watch too closely as the Grey's cast watches George after he had to take his dad off of life support.

Jered helped me make dinner last night, and it was fantastic.  (The dinner and his help.)  Then I made brownies.  From scratch!  And Jered picked up some ice cream.  Delightful.

I tried a coconut oil conditioning treatment on my hair yesterday.  Fantastic.  I thought I was going to have to chop my hair because it was getting so ridiculously dry, but the oil worked wonders!  Pinterest for the win!

However a major Pinterest fail has me extremely frustrated.  None, and I do mean none, of the tips about how to clean your scorched iron, work.

I've decided that the best feeling in the morning, which isn't saying much because mornings are pretty low on the enjoyment scale for me, is when I walk back into the apartment after taking Jered to work.  Coming in from the cold, into our warm apartment and smelling the fresh coffee waiting for me, is not so bad.  Not bad at all.

I finished Allegiant.  "Boo followed by hiss," as Mr. Roman would say.

I think that's about it for now.  Talk to you later.

Aim

Full

Hi.

Jered and I made a series of unwise choices on Saturday.

Mistake #1: Knowing that we could expect a good amount of snow later in the day, we put off our plans until the weather was at its worst.

Mistake #2: We accepted the awesome deal the cologne salesman gave us, but then found out we couldn't use the gift card we had planned on using.

Mistake #3: Jered rented The Conjuring, aka: the ABSOLUTE scariest movie we've ever seen in our lives.  Furthermore, we ended up watching said film almost right before bed.

Good thing I have a husband who reminds me to look at the positive side of life.  With that said, let me tell you all the wonderful things about our Saturday.

Upside #1: Since we didn't leave our apartment until dinner time, we had time to have a full  breakfast and watch cartoons together first thing in the morning.  Jered got several beneficial hours of studying done, and our apartment looks amazing because I spent that time cleaning, organizing, and purging junk.

Upside #2: Jered now smells exceptionally amazing, we each got several free sample bottles, I got a very cute complementary clutch, and I still have a mall gift card to spend.

Upside #3: Well, it's hard to find an upside to the scary movie, but my husband snuggled a little closer, and we got a decent laugh out of how scared and ridiculous we must have looked.  We sat up straight, side by side, knees tucked to our chins, blanket wrapped tightly around us to keep us safe, and I laughed at the amount of terrified yelling that came out of my mouth.  (We even had to pause the movie to regather ourselves, turn on the lights, and grab a snack to detach from the movie a bit.  There was plugging of ears and humming to drown out the shock/fear factor and the hiding of eyes behind hands.  Oh, and we had to watch some of The Emperor's New Groove before we went to bed.)

All in all, our Saturday may not have gone quite as planned.  It maybe wasn't the smoothest of days, but it was a pretty grand Saturday in my opinion.  I guess it just goes to show that sometimes our plans aren't the best out there.

I'm thankful that I have Jered in my life to teach me to be optimistic.  It doesn't come naturally for me.  It does for him.  Not much gets him down.  He sees his glass of orange juice as half full.  And that helps my life be full.

Hope you're doing well and enjoying all the juice you've been blessed with today.

Aim